


The Beginning of the End

by Rash_jaya



Series: The one and future Omega King... [9]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-03
Updated: 2018-04-03
Packaged: 2019-04-17 20:51:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14197458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rash_jaya/pseuds/Rash_jaya
Summary: When a druid and his boy apprentice are caught in Camelot, Morgana and Merlin hide the boy named Mordred from Uther's guard and Arthur must smuggle the boy from Camelot without being caught.





	1. Mordred

Merlin had almost begun to get used to the idea of normal, when one morning he nearly fell over, hearing a loud cry for help in his mind. He knew it was not something he heard a loud but through her magic. A child, a boy, crying for help. Merlin followed the thread of magic down to the main courtyard. There was a boy in a green Druid’s cloak, hiding behind a wagon while the guards searched. It had been a while since Merlin had been taught to use his magic to speak and he had never had to use it with any frequency, but it came back easily enough. He beckoned the boy over. He sprinted across the courtyard to him as Merlin made a small ruckus with some stacked barrels of mead on the other end. The boy reached him and he rushed him in the side door, spiriting him up the back stair. Unfortunately, Merlin heard the guards behind them. They were right next to Morgana’s chambers. He pulled the boy along as he ran up the stairs and burst into the room, shutting the door behind him.

“Merlin, have you forgotten…?” Morgana trailed off. “What’s this?”

“They’re after him, he’s only a boy.” Merlin fervently hoped that Morgana would not betray them.

“Behind the screen,” Morgana agreed immediately. “Keep quiet.”

“My lady?” a guard pounded on the door, even as they darted behind the screen in the corner.

“Honestly,” Morgana said irritably. Merlin heard the door open.

“My lady, we are so sorry to disturb you…” Merlin heard no more of the conversation as the Druid boy fainted away in his arms. Merlin caught him and stifled a grunt of exertion and surprise. Thankfully, the door closed. The guards left. Merlin heaved a great sigh of relief. Morgana and Gwen both bustled over.

“I think he’s hurt,” Merlin admitted. Morgana took the boy while Gwen and Merlin hurriedly made a small pallet for him, taking a few of Morgana’s pillows and spare blankets. Morgana lowered him to the make-shift bed and Merlin stripped his cloak and shirt off. Unsurprisingly, he had a triskelion tattoo on his chest.

He was certainly one of the children given to the Druids for their own protection. Merlin’s mother had been too selfish to send Merlin away, but it was certainly common enough. A child born to a family without magic could easily hurt themselves by accident, trying to do something helpful or amusing and causing something dreadful instead because they had no concept of enough. The boy had a cut on his upper arm, a red nasty thing that was still bleeding.

“We can’t leave that,” Gwen murmured.

“No, but I know how to treat a simple cut,” Merlin assured her. “I’ll go borrow some supplies from Gaius, he should be out in the town right now, and I’ll be right back.” Morgana gave him a tight smile and Gwen nodded. Merlin stood and crossed the room, leaving.

As she left, she heard Morgana say, “No child deserves this.”

“Of course not,” Gwen agreed. Merlin hurried as quickly as possible without arousing suspicion to Gaius’ chambers, fetched bandages and a few herbs to fight off infection, secreted them under her tunic and rushed back to Morgana’s chambers. Arthur was in council with the King, which Merlin was not attending now that Arthur was perfectly comfortable letting him out of his sight, would not miss him too quickly or fear for his life and the fact Guinevere was with Arthur kept Merlin from worrying. Thankfully, no one noticed Merlin on either journey and he was soon safely back in Morgana’s chambers. The boy was awake again.

“Hello,” Merlin greeted him, taking the bandages and herbs out from under his tunic. He looked up but replied with his magic. Merlin frowned in confusion. “I’m going to bandage that cut on your arm, alright?” The boy nodded.

“He hasn’t spoken,” Morgana whispered.

OH! “Are you doing your vow of silence this year?” Merlin asked. The boy nodded again.

“It’s a Druid ritual,” Merlin explained to Morgana and Gwen as he knelt beside the boy and started tending to him. “It’s to teach self-restraint, I think. They spend most of a year under a vow of silence. They cannot speak to anyone. But Druids also have very strict rules about the harm that they must follow as adults, so they learn as children never to act solely on instinct.”

“The Druids are a peaceful people,” Gwen murmured. Merlin nodded absently.

“They none of them can cause harm to another, right?” Morgana asked. Both Merlin and the boy nodded. He tied off the bandage.

“Is that too tight?” Merlin asked. He shook his head. “I’m Merlin.” The boy smiled at him. “That’s Morgana.” Morgana beamed at him. “That’s Gwen.” Gwen waved shyly. The boy waved back. Gwen blushed. Honestly. Morgana gave her a look like the same thought had crossed her mind.

“Will Arthur be out of council yet?” Gwen asked. “We don’t want him to come here looking for you.”

“No, Arthur might feel guilty,” Morgana agreed.

“I’ll go see what he’s doing,” Merlin agreed. “I’ll come back when I can.” he left again, trusting Morgana and Gwen would keep the boy safe. Arthur had just gotten back to his chambers when he arrived, and Guinevere was reading the paper at the table. She nodded at Merlin and then want back to her papers.

“Where were you?” he asked, sounding a little grumpy.

“I went to check on Gwen and Morgana,” she told him. “With the Druids…”

“The Druids are a peaceful people,” Arthur growled. “I don’t see why Father insists on executing the man. And the boy is only a child.”

“Your father does what he thinks is best for the good of the kingdom,” Merlin replied quietly.

“Do you agree with him?” Arthur asked. His expression was open and his tone was curious. It wasn’t a trap.

Merlin made certain to keep his voice even anyway. “No. The Druids have made oaths to never cause harm to another, no matter the circumstances. What crime have they committed to warrant execution? Most of them don’t even have magic now, after the purge.”

“I wish my father could see that,” Arthur sighed. “I just hope we don’t catch that boy. No child deserves to be beheaded.”

“No,” Merlin agreed. For some reason or another, he did not tell Arthur that he was the one who had helped the boy hide. He did not think his brother would ever turn him over to Uther for something like this, something minor that he even agreed with, at least in sentiment, but he just did not tell him. Unfortunately, there was no way to get the older Druid out of the cells without a blatant use of magic that would only enrage Uther. Merlin felt terrible about it, but nothing could be done without making the situation worse.

He felt worse the next morning, as the man, Cerdan, Mordred told him silently, was executed. Arthur was out on the balcony with Uther and had sent Merlin to comfort Morgana and Gwen. He would have gone anyway, of course. Mordred looked horribly stricken. Though Mordred’s parents were nice peasant people who had raised him until he blighted the cabbage he didn’t like to eat at age 6 and nothing could be done to fix it, even as it spread to all their crops, Cerdan had taken care of him for the last four years and Mordred loved him dearly. Morgana could not even watch the execution from the window, turning her head at the last second. Merlin watched, gave the man that honour, even as he felt like heaving his breakfast back up. The axe fell and the mirror shattered, a scream of Mordred’s pain. Merlin felt a sympathetic pang. Would that he could have done something.

“My condolences, anything,” Merlin murmured. Mordred said nothing, aloud or with his magic.

“What does that word mean?” Gwen asked.

“Little one, child,” Merlin told her, walking away from the window.

“You know the language of the Druids?” Morgana asked.

“I was raised in Essetir. It’s not uncommon in other kingdoms for people to know a few words. Plus, the Druids travel on the same paths for the most part and my village was on one of those paths. Sometimes they would stay for the winter. It’s how I learned to read and write, actually. One of those winters, a few of the Druids gathered up all the children in the village and taught us.”

“I didn’t know that,” Morgana said quietly.

“Well, I don’t bring it up here. Having anything to do with anything possibly related to magic can be a crime.” He pointed out.

“That’s true,” Gwen agreed with a sigh. “Not to be insensitive, but we can’t keep the boy here indefinitely. We have to find some way to get him back to his people.”

“They won’t have been on their own,” Merlin said. “Not in Camelot. His band can’t be too far.” Mordred shook his head, silently clarifying that they had not been an hour’s walk two days ago.

“Well, we can’t do anything yet. He must be fit to travel and we’ll have to leave at night.” Morgana was practical. “Oh, I forgot I have to dine with Uther tonight. I don’t want to go, but he might be suspicious if I don’t. I’ve barely left my chambers and someone’s bound to have noticed.”

“Unfortunately, I better get back to Arthur. He was firmly opposed to executing the man, so he’s bound to be in a prat mood all day.”

“Sorry,” Gwen winced sympathetically.

“Thanks.” Merlin gently squeezed Mordred’s shoulder before he turned and left. Morgana patted him absently on the arm as he passed. Merlin closed the door behind him, only to find Arthur already in the hall. He hurried down the stairs to meet him.

“How are they?” he asked quietly.

“Neither one of them could watch, but they’ll be fine,” he assured him.

“Good.” Arthur nodded. “Come on, now. I want a bath before I have to go out looking for the boy again.” Merlin nodded agreeably and hurried off to the kitchens to get the water. Arthur had his bath while Merlin tidied up and then went off to go searching for the Druid boy some more. Merlin, rather than go back to Morgana’s chambers, went around doing his usual duties. After all, Mordred was safe and sound and this way no one would notice his behaving unusually.

Arthur came storming in while Morgana was eating with Uther, grumbling about how he had been looking all damn day and he was tired and Uther was paranoid and what in the world had gotten into Morgana?

“Well, you said that Uther decided someone was hiding the boy, right? Maybe Morgana was trying to make sure she didn’t get accused. She hasn’t slept well, so she’s been keeping to her room the past couple days.”

“Oh, yes,” Arthur nodded. “Morgana’s good at that sort of thing. I have a headache.”

“A headache remedy from Gaius a headache or a pitcher of mead from a kitchen headache?” Merlin asked. Arthur smiled fondly at him.

“Get me some mead, would you?”

“Of course.” Merlin ran down to the kitchens and was soon back, handing him the drink. Arthur dismissed him. Merlin went to check on Morgana and Mordred before he went to bed. Mordred was healing well, but Morgana was not yet ready to let him travel.

Merlin was back in Morgana’s chambers the next morning when Arthur came knocking, having been ordered to search everyone’s chambers. Merlin was silently talking at Mordred, having started with expressions of sympathy and in the middle of a story, he knew from the Druids when Arthur knocked. Morgana closed the curtain that hung behind the screen, hiding both of them.

“Arthur! To what do I owe this pleasure?” Merlin could hear the tension in Morgana’s voice.

“Don't get all excited,” Arthur replied. “It's not a social call. I'm looking for the Druid boy. I'm afraid I'm going to have to search your chambers.”

“You're not searching my chambers,” Morgana retorted.

“Don't take it personally. I have to search the entire castle. Only take a few minutes,” Arthur cajoled.

“I'm not having you mess up my things,” Morgana insisted.

“I'm not interested in your things, I'm just looking for any evidence that the Druid boy's in the castle. Father insisted.”

“Perhaps the Druid boy's hiding in your chambers,” Morgana teased. “They're usually such a mess, you'd never know.”

“It's hardly my fault I have such a lazy idiot for a servant,” Arthur grumbled. Merlin made a face. It was not his fault that Arthur got prat moods and would literally throw things across the room at the Servants and even Merlin whenever he showed his face and then he had to avoid Arthur as much as possible to avoid injury.

“If you can't even find your own servant, what hope do you have of finding the boy?”

“Really, I'm touched by the confidence you have in my abilities. And, as much as I'd love to stay and talk, the sooner we get started, the sooner we'll be finished,” Arthur told her.

“Well, I'll save you the trouble,” Morgana sneered.

“Trust me, if I could find him, I would,” Arthur said.

“No, The Druid boy's hiding behind the screen. I'm sure your father would love to know how you wasted your time by rifling through my things. Go on.” Oh, Morgana, let that work. Let him leave. Mordred had seized up with fear. Merlin silently assured him that she was not really turning him over and Arthur would not come look.

“So, you can have the satisfaction of making me look a fool?” Arthur demanded irritably. Merlin and Mordred both slumped with relief.

“In my experience, you don't need any help looking like a fool. What are you waiting for? Take a look.” Morgana told Arthur.

“Why don't you go back to brushing your hair, or whatever it is that you do all day?” Arthur grumbled, stomping over to the door.

“Bye, Arthur. Good luck with the search!” Morgana called out cheerfully. The door closed and Merlin snapped the curtain open.

“Was the sole purpose of that to give both of us a horrid fright?” he demanded. Morgana smiled at him.

“I knew Arthur would assume I was just stringing him along.” Merlin was not nearly as amused. He sent a silent apology to Mordred as he stalked out of Morgana’s chambers into the servant’s hallway. Unsurprisingly, it was empty. Morgana was the only person with chambers in the immediate vicinity, so the only person who used the hallway with any regularity was Gwen, who was currently off doing Morgana’s laundry.


	2. distraction

Merlin went into Arthur’s chambers only to find he had made a complete mess of them. They looked almost as bad as they had when he had first been appointed his manservant/protector and he had been hoping to antagonize him into quitting before he remembered who he was. Of course, Merlin had taken it as a challenge instead. He decided to take this mess the same way, even though he knew it was more indicative of Arthur’s anger with their Father about the Druids. Even Guinevere had stayed in her own chambers the last night. Merlin cleaned up the spilt mead, changed the rushes, cleaned all the clothes he had scattered across the floor, took the soiled sheets and cleaned them as well, straightened up all the things he had thrown across the room, and then fetched his supper and a bath. Arthur plodded grumpily into his room.

“Should I take it you found the boy and feel horrible or your Father’s angry because you haven’t?” he asked his brother.

“Father’s angry,” Arthur grumbled.

“I got you a bath,” he told him brightly. Arthur’s face twitched into a pleased expression for a moment before fading back into moroseness. But he gratefully stripped out of his clothes and sank into the bath. Merlin washed his hair for him and Arthur was in a better mood as he sat down to his supper.

“Have you eaten?” he asked.

“Yes,” Merlin answered. He had eaten when He fetched Arthur’s supper, as Merlin usually did. Unless Arthur demanded his meal immediately, Merlin usually had time to wander down to the kitchens and eat before he had to take a tray back up. After all, Arthur really didn’t care what order he did his duties in unless he needed something specific. After Arthur dismissed him that evening, having to go back out to search for the boy, Merlin went to Morgana’s chambers to find Morgana had decided that they were going to sneak Mordred out. Merlin tried to get Morgana to let him do it, at least he was aware of his powers. He could distract the guards, silence their footsteps, be proactive about not getting caught. But Morgana was insistent that she would do it and Mordred had no arguments. Morgana wrapped her bright red cloak around her and she and Mordred hurried out into the night. Merlin could not watch. He went down to the dragon.

“Are you here about the Druid boy?” the dragon asked.

“Sort of. Morgana’s insisted that she will sneak him out of the castle. I could not bear to watch her fail. With no knowledge of her own abilities, she’ll never get out. Arthur himself is searching tonight.”

“Well, that will be for the best,” the dragon told her. Merlin wrinkled her brow in confusion.

“What do you mean? He is just a child.”

“The name, Mordred, is it unfamiliar to you?”

“I’ve heard it before but I couldn’t place it. Is it from a prophecy?”

“The prophecy of the Once and Future King.”

“The one that everyone thought Uther would full fill? You know, before he started the purge and slayed the dragons?”

“Yes, that one,” the dragon agreed. “I believe it is his son’s destiny to full fill that prophecy. And the one to slay that King is a boy raised by the Druids, named Mordred.”

“It could be a different child. Most of the witches and warlocks are raised by the Druids now, because of the purge. The name may be uncommon, but surely there is more than one person to bear the name.”

“It is not a different child.”

“But he is so young. He is only ten years old. How can you know he will murder someone as an adult?”

“The prophecies do not lie.”

“Neither are they clear,” Merlin argued. “Perhaps you are wrong.”

“I am not wrong, young warlock. Heed my words. Let the boy die now, keep your prince safe.”

“If the boy is foretold to make an attempt on Arthur’s life, I could not kill him myself before he has done it,” Merlin snapped. “It would not work. Prophecies cannot be that much averted, not like that.”

“You can let him die,” the dragon growled.

“I’m not arguing about this,” Merlin grumbled. There was a long moment of silence. The dragon was glaring at him, smoke blowing out of his nostrils. Merlin just wanted to lay down and cry or scream or something. Morgana was not going to get Mordred out. Arthur would catch her. If they had to watch a boy be executed, Arthur would be in an absolutely insufferable mood for who only knew how long.

“You must be wary of the boy,” the dragon insisted.

“Fine. I will keep your theory that the boy will try to kill Arthur at some point in mind,” she sighed. “Is that where your ‘two sides of the same coin’ came from?” The dragon agreed. After a little bit longer, Merlin went back up to his room in Gaius’ chambers. There had been no comfort to be found with the dragon.

In the morning, she went to Morgana’s chambers and Gwen stopped her outside them. She was clearly upset and Merlin knew she had not been wrong.

“Arthur found them?” she asked quietly. Gwen nodded. “Give Morgana my condolences, then. She was very fond of the boy.”

“Of course,” Gwen agreed. There was nothing more to say so Merlin squeezed her hand and went off to Arthur. As she had expected, even the breakfast tray in her hands did not keep him from throwing a goblet at her. It had been on his bedside table. The rest of the room looked equally horrible.

“I heard you caught the boy,” Merlin murmured.

“The boy was behind the screen when she told me,” Arthur snarled. “I feel like a fool. But no child deserves this fate.”

“He’s caught now, though,” Merlin replied quietly. “He’s in the dungeons. There’s nothing left to be done.”

“Exactly,” Arthur agreed too quickly. “Nothing left to be done, Merlin. Now clean up my chambers. I don’t understand how you let them get to such a state.”

“You dismiss me before you get drunk and you seem to have a habit of throwing everything around the room when you get drunk,” Merlin muttered to himself. Arthur eyed her suspiciously but did not ask. “I had them clean and tidy yesterday evening.”

Merlin spent most of the day avoiding Arthur, Morgana, and Gwen, doing all the same duties he had done to clean up Arthur’s drunken tantrum the day before. Of course, when she accidentally walked in on Arthur and Morgana plotting something, likely a jailbreak for Mordred, he ended up having to muck out the stables as well. Merlin was not upset that he was not being included in the plans. Despite the fact that he wanted to dismiss the dragon as paranoid, the Great Dragon was the title for the oldest dragon alive and he had held it before his fellows were killed. The dragon likely knew full well what he was talking about. Merlin was perfectly content to let Arthur and Morgana engender the child’s affections and gratitude by rescuing him while he had a nice long night of sleep. Had he mentioned him bad luck in Camelot though? When he walked in with Arthur’s supper, Morgana was there again, dressed up for supper with Uther.

“Merlin…” Arthur smiled at him. “We can use Merlin.”

“I trust Merlin,” Morgana agreed. “I better get to supper, though.”

“Uther cannot think you were involved this time,” Arthur agreed. Merlin winced. Morgana strode out without noticing, thankfully.

“So, you were plotting to break the Druid boy out of jail earlier?” he groaned. “I was really hoping the two of you would manage this yourself and I could go to bed early and have a nice long night of sleep.”

“I’m going to take him out through the tunnels, but there’s a grate on the exit. All you have to do is meet us there and take the grate off. Then you can sleep,” Arthur told him.

“The giant hole with a grate that leads straight into the woods?” Merlin clarified.

Arthur nodded. “I didn’t realize that led out from the dungeons. I suppose it was originally for escape in case of siege or something?” he added.

“I imagine so,” Arthur agreed. “You’re dismissed for the evening. But I need you to be down at that grate with a way to get it open at nine o clock when the guards change.”

“Yes, Arthur,” Merlin murmured. He went back to Gaius’ chambers, for lack of anything else to do, and ended up helping him with his potions and medicines. There were several people in the castle that took something from him every day and he had to make lots of their potions- Morgana’s sleeping-draught for her visions, Uther’s remedy for his shoulder, several of the older noblemen and their wives who had trouble sleeping or with headaches or stomach-aches. He and Gaius spent a few hours chatting as they worked, Gaius telling him about how each potion worked. It was soothing work.


	3. fatal attraction

When the clock struck nine, Merlin said he was going to go check on Arthur, who was upset about the Druid boy’s execution, before he was probably asleep. Gaius laughed him out of the room and thankfully did not notice the fire poker he grabbed on his way out. He stuffed it down his trouser leg in the stairwell and then hurried down to the courtyard and out through the lower town to the spot Arthur had told him to be. He and Mordred were not there yet, but he could feel them moving closer, by using his magic. He pulled the fire poker out and laid it in the grass, using his magic to take the grate off its hinges instead. He laid it down silently in the grass and waited. Arthur and Mordred soon rushed into view and Arthur helped Merlin set the grate back up. It was nowhere near as steady, a good shove would knock it over, but at least it was not immediately obvious how they had escaped.

“Go get your sleep,” Arthur told him. “I’ll be back sometime tonight. One of the patrols spotted signs of a Druid encampment nearby, so I won’t be too long.”

Merlin nodded. “Be careful,” he begged. He knelt down and Mordred hugged him tightly, silently thanking him. “Be good,” he murmured. Mordred nodded. Arthur took his hand and they hurried into the woods. Merlin grabbed the fire poker, put it back in his trousers and hurried back through the lower town to the castle. Thankfully, they had noticed that the Druid boy was missing and the guards had all swarmed down to the dungeons. So, Merlin’s trip back to Gaius’ chambers went unnoticed.

Arthur was back the next morning when Merlin brought his breakfast. He was exhausted and would not wake, but he was in perfect health. after Merlin arrived, startling him out of his reverie, staring at his sleeping face. The way the sunlight from the window hit the pillow, his hair seemed to glow.

With Arthur obviously needing his sleep, Guinevere again had sleep in her own chambers last night, for her side of the bed was untouched. Merlin worried about this and wondered if the two had a fight but for now he would not worry about them. He hopes that Sophia had not managed to break the two of them up and he hopes that they will fix whatever is miss between the two.

Merlin wandered aimlessly about the room. It was mid-April and too warm for a fire. Arthur had not had any drunken tantrums lately, so the chambers were clean and tidy. Other than changing the rushes and cleaning his boots, there was little to do.

Though Merlin had no great desire to leave Arthur’s side, Merlin went and fetched fresh rushes and changed the rushes and then cleaned Arthur’s boots so there would be no mud on them if someone suspected he had been involved. He then checked his clothing for suspicious tears or stains, with the same thought in mind, but they were as pristine as always and no one would worry about his blue cloak. He used it infrequently enough that Merlin was certain no one would question it. Arthur finally woke about dinnertime. Merlin had eaten his breakfast and taken the tray back to the kitchens a few hours earlier. Arthur went and assured Morgana that all had gone smoothly before going to training. Merlin was given the afternoon off and ended up helping Gaius deliver his remedies, running hither and thither all over the castle.

Morgana sat on the edge of her bed, watching the door. The alarm had stopped now. Uther must have given up. She'd been banished to her bedchamber as soon as dinner was over, and although she hadn't looked, she was sure there was a guard outside the door. It didn't matter. Let Uther keep her prisoner; he could prove nothing.

Morgana heard footsteps. Her heart raced. There was a familiar knock on the door and a voice, low and deep: "It's Merlin, My Lady." She flew to the door and opened it. Merlin stood there, clutching a small glass vial with his long fingers.

"Gaius sent me with this." Merlin brandished the bottle. "It's your sleeping draught." Morgana glanced over Merlin's shoulder to scan the corridor. Sure enough, there was a guard at each end. At least Uther had had the decency not to station them right outside the door.

"Thank you, Merlin," Morgana said, loudly enough to be sure the guards would hear. "Come in for a moment, please. I wish to close my window but the lever has stuck fast. I need some help." She ushered him inside and closed the door behind them.

“How is he?” Morgana asked. “They succeeded?”

“Well, Arthur’s back and the boy is not, so I imagine they did. Arthur has yet to wake, but it’s just exhaustion. He’s in perfect health.” Relief washed over her, almost overwhelming. Safe. He was safe.

“Good,” Morgana stated, she was worried about Arthur.

“And he has no responsibilities this morning, so I can let him sleep,” Merlin added. Morgana smiled wanly.

Merlin knew, her own sleep was fitful. With no true knowledge of her powers, just a concern that she might have the Seer’s gift, Morgana had no control over her visions and they plagued her sleeping hours. Any sort of misfortune would play in her head until it came to pass. Unfortunately, Merlin himself had no talent for visions. They made his stomach sick and his head spin, so he had no advice for Morgana.

"Which window do you need closing?" Merlin asked.

"I beg your pardon?" Asked him.

"You said one of the windows had stuck?" Merlin pointed out.

Morgana laughed. "That was a ruse, silly."

"Oh." A rather appealing blush appeared on Merlin's cheeks. "Sorry. I'm not very good at all this lying and sneaking around."

"You've done very well, Merlin."

Merlin nodded: he didn't seem as proud of himself as Morgana might have expected, but she supposed he was still frightened. Of the three of them, he was the one most likely to feel the full force of Uther's wrath, after all. She touched Merlin's arm: he looked at her hand, eyes widened in surprise, and the blush deepened.

"You're very brave, Merlin. You helped save his life. I'm sure he's grateful." She told him.

He gave her a tight little smile. "Yes. It was nothing, really."

"Such a strange little boy," she said, wistfully. "Did you ever hear him speak?"

"Arthur did. He said the boy told him his name. Mordred."

The name chimed like a bell deep in Morgana's soul. "Mordred? What an unusual name."

"He's an unusual child," said Merlin. "If that's all, my Lady….?"

"Yes, thank you, Merlin. Sleep well."

"You too."

Morgana was barely aware of Merlin leaving. She slipped off her dressing robe and her slippers and got into bed. She poured the sleeping draught down her throat and swallowed, then lay back, a smile on her lips. She closed her eyes.

"Good luck, Mordred," she whispered.

His voice echoed in her chambers like a ghost, a dream.

"Thank you, Morgana. We will meet again."


End file.
